1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a door window regulator which vertically moves and guides a door window glass of an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
In general, a door window regulator has an X-shaped arm made from steel sheet and is arranged such that a door window glass mounted on the upper end of the X-shaped arm is vertically moved by the pivoting of the X-shaped arm. The door window regulator employing such an X-shaped arm has a relatively large weight and a relatively large moving locus, which fact disadvantageously limits the range of available configurations and structures of the door.
In view of this fact, door window regulators have heretofore been proposed in which a wire is employed as a window glass driving means mainly from the viewpoint of reducing the weight of the apparatus, such as those shown in the specifications of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. 69,684/1983 and 132,276/1980, Japanese Patent Publication No. 592/1981 and British Pat. No. 1,448,795.
As one example of such conventional door window regulators, a structure has been disclosed in the specification of French Pat. No. 2,425,528 in which a window glass is supported by a slider which is guided by a guide, and an intermediate portion of a wire which is passed over pulleys rotatably supported at the respective upper and lower portions of the guide is retained by the slider to thereby obtain actuating force by which the window glass is raised and lowered. This door window regulator, however, suffers the following problem. The connection between the slider and the wire is made by clamping the intermediate portion of the wire, and the positional adjustment of the window glass is effected by varying the clamping position of the wire. In addition, the clamping portion of the wire requires a plurality of elements to be tightened simultaneously, which fact involves a troublesome adjusting operation. Further, if the force by which the wire is clamped is insufficient, slippage may take place between the wire and the slider; if the clamping force is increased, the wire may be damaged. Furthermore, this structure is not provided with any means for adjusting the window glass within the plane of the surface thereof.
Another example of conventional door window regulators which employ a wire is disclosed in the specification of British Pat. No. 1,448,795. This prior art also has a structure in which the wire is connected to a slider by means of tightening and clamping and therefore suffers disadvantages similar to the above. Moreover, since the slider and the window glass are connected together by means of a combination of a bolt and a slot which is elongated in only one direction, although it is possible to adjust the position of the glass longitudinally thereof, it is not possible for the positional adjustment to be effected in the direction of pivotal movement of the window glass within the plane of the surface thereof.
Thus, all the conventional wire-type door window regulators are incomplete in terms of their window glass adjusting structures. Even if the slot for adjustment is enlarged also in its lateral direction so that it is possible to simultaneously adjust the position of the window glass in its longitudinal direction and in the direction of its pivotal movement within the plane of the surface thereof, it is still difficult to effect accurate positional adjustment of the window glass in these directions.